Gay teacher says he was forced to leave his job after receiving threatening homophobic letters
The letters claimed that homosexuals "should not be teaching" children
A gay teacher has claimed he was forced to leave his job and relocate to another state after he received anonymous homophobic letters.
Michael Hill, who had taught art at the Nemaha Central High School in Kansas since 2009, claims he began to receive the vile letters after coming out to his students last October on National Coming Out Day, the Huffington Post reports.
In a Facebook post, Hill shared images of some of the letters he received and wrote: “I decided I needed to put these on there because people need to know this kind of ugly hatred still exists in the world only by confronting it can we end it.
“This was part of a pattern of harassment that started back in October 2017. As a result of this I made the difficult decision to pack up and make a huge leap of faith and moved to Palm Springs, CA.”
One of the letters addressed to Hill from a “concerned patron” read: “Homosexuals should not be teaching our kids, in fact, I don’t believe they should be teachers at all they are perverts and predators. They are not acceptable role models for our kids and I do not agree with the lifestyle.”
It continued: “The Bible does not condone your behaviour and I do not want my kids exposed to this type of immorality, you should be encouraged to leave as soon as possible and I’m writing to administration to express this too. The homosexual lifestyle is not in keeping with the values of this community.
“The religious views of my family do not support this lifestyle and I do not want my kids to see this as an acceptable way of living. You should not be allowed to push some gay agenda on our kids. You need to be fired and you can take your gay ideas with you. F*gs are not welcome in our schools.”
The other two letters addressed to Hill said they didn’t “want f*gs in our schools” and stated that “Queers will burn”.
Hill, a father of two, revealed that the second and third letters he received had been addressed to his home. He contacted law enforcement, but claimed their response was “lackluster”.
Darrel Kohlman, superintendent of the school, called Hill’s resignation “a loss” but insisted the letters couldn’t have come from a student or staff member from the school.